Heroes of Newerth – Which Heroes Should I Ban In Banning Draft / Banning Pick?

This short article will let you know who to ban in banning draft and banning pick match types. Banning pick is currently the default type of game you will see in Matchmaking, though very recently Banning Draft was the default. Banning Draft gives you a random smaller selection of heroes, while Banning Pick gives you all heroes to choose from.

Since the default matchmaking gametype is currently banning pick (choose from all heroes, ban 6), you’ll definitely need to know which to ban and remove from the picking. There are a handful of heroes that are currently overpowered, or just not fun to play against. This list is mostly agreed upon by everyone in the HoN community.

Explanation of Choices

Zephyr – Can farm the jungle extremely easily and become overpowered very quickly. His small tornadoes can do a ton of damage to anyone near him, while he can also dish out a ton of damage with a few items and his spells.

Hellbringer – His ultimate spell has not only a huge radius, long stun, it also summons a powerful controllable demon that is great at pushing towers. HB also has a couple great regular spells that can do massive damage and are nearly impossible to avoid.

Jereziah – His healing spell alone is something to be reckoned with, but isn’t overpowered in itself. However, his ultimate Sol’s Blessing can make an entire team basically invincible for most team fights and top top it off, he can offer a key player on your team magic immunity indefinitely.

Tempest – Ult ult ult. His ultimate, when positioned correctly, can be game winning. It has a huge radius, completely disables all it hits, and even does damage to boot. Combine his ultimate with a portal key for suprise and perfect positioning. He also has a great stun spell and his elementals have extreme pushing or jungling power.

Chronos – Though weak early game, when he gets some levels and items, he will have free reign to kill an enemy hero whenever he uses his ult. This is basically unavoidable and unstoppable and therefore not really fun to play against. Chronos does need to be farmed with gold before he is really effective, so Chronos may be one of the picks you can substitute out for someone else.

Plague Rider – His ultimate can annihilate an enemy team who has gathered to close. Other than that, he is a decent harass and support hero, but not too overpowered. This may be another option to substitute a ban for someone else.

Engineer – Personally I don’t mind playing against him much and he isn’t huge problem in average games. However, he can deal out massive amounts of damage with some good items. His turret gets all the abilities he gets (including chance on hit things like casting chain lightning!). All of his abilities are quite effective, especially in the hands of a great player. His ultimate is great when positioned correctly to trap, slow, and cut off the enemy team.

Accursed – I don’t mind Accursed much, though he can be hassle to play against. A good player will get him a Mock of Brilliance, which will do damage to everyone in the area as long as he is alive…and he can stay alive FOREVER. His shield and healing abilities are extremely powerful early game and can still help out toward the end of most games.

Personal / Extra Banning Draft Choices – This is a secondary list of heroes which may make the game less fun. These heroes really aren’t overpowered and you should really go with the other choices unless you have a specific reason not to. If so, here’s a quick explanation of why I chose these secondary bans. Keep in mind these are personal choices and if you do ban these heroes instead of the primary 6, you’ll probably have people yelling at you.

Swiftblade: can very easily gank anybody caught alone with his ultimate (i.e. someone farming jungle).
Scout: For whatever reason, the most popular choice for new players and you can almost be assured anyone picking scout is not going to be helping your team much.
Corrupted Disciple: Can farm and become overpowered very easily and his ultimate could be seen as very cheap and lacking in skill.
Arachna: Her ult (spider) spell is a simple point and click and is very frustrating and damaging to be the victim of.
War Beast: can become farmed up easily and then do massive damage mid to late game. When farmed and using his ultimate “beast” form, he does huge damage and is extremely fast.
Devourer: His hook and stun, can be extremely frustrating when you are grabbed from safety into 5 enemy heroes. Using the hook properly does require skill however.

Conclusion

By choosing the above mentioned bans, nobody will ever scream at you and call you a “nawb” for poor ban choices. Failing to remove these heroes from the game can easily cause an unbalanced game.

Personally, I preferred the banning draft setup for matchmaking, as it provided more unique games.